Healthful Diet Calls For Five Servings Of Fruits And Vegetables Daily

You can count them on one hand. One, two, three, four, five -- five servings of fruits and vegetables a day are part of a recommended eating plan for good health.

Drink a glass of orange juice, and toss a handful of blueberries on top of your breakfast cereal. Munch on an apple as a mid-morning snack, and you're more than halfway to your goal before the lunch bell even rings.

The 5 a Day for Better Health program isn't new. The National Cancer Institute and its industry partner, the Produce for Better Health Foundation, introduced it in 1991. The goal is to persuade Americans to eat more fruits and vegetables -- low-calorie sources of fiber, vitamins, minerals and, as a bonus, naturally good flavor.

Since 1991, the number of people who know they should be eating five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day has quadrupled. But are they putting that knowledge into practice?

Only one of five children eat the recommended servings, and almost one-fourth of the vegetables they eat are french fries, says a 1996 report in the Archives of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine.

``The message needs to be clearer still because all of our people are not eating five a day,'' says Kathy Cobb, a registered dietitian at the state Department of Public Health.

With the National Cancer Institute designating this as national 5 a Day Week 1996, Cobb is trying to get the word out, starting with the basics: serving sizes. The cancer institute defines a portion as:

* 3/4 cup (6 ounces) of 100-percent fruit or vegetable juice

* 1 medium fruit, such as an apple, orange, banana, etc.

* 1/2 cup cut-up raw or cooked fruit or vegetables

* 1/4 cup dried fruit, such as raisins, apricots, dates

* 1 cup raw, leafy vegetables

* 1/2 cup dry, cooked or canned peas or beans

The 5 a Day plan includes dried, canned, fresh or frozen produce and juice. Label-reading is important when choosing fruit juice, Cobb says. ``A lot of consumers think they're getting fruit juice when they see the word `fruit' on the label,'' she says. ``But the label should read `100 percent fruit juice,' not just `10 percent fruit juice.' ''

Labels using the words ``beverage,''``cocktail'' or ``drink'' often are a clue that the mixture is not 100 percent juice. ``If the ingredient list begins with water and sucrose, sugar or fructose, the buyer should be suspicious,'' Cobb says. ``The first ingredient should be fruit.''

Canned fruits and vegetables can be stored indefinitely and are convenient to have on hand when their fresh counterparts are out of season. Their nutritional value is excellent, but they may have added ingredients such as salt and sugar. Canned vegetables ``may be a problem for some people watching their sodium intake,'' the dietitian says. Fruits packed in sugar syrup can be rinsed in cold water before eating. ``That won't affect the nutrients, but it will diminish some of the sugar,'' Cobb says. Fruits canned in fruit juice are a widely available alternative to the heavy syrup variety.

Cobb suggests looking at ways to pad the most important meal of the day -- breakfast -- with fruits and vegetables. If you can meet some of the five-a-day requirements in the morning, fitting in more veggies or fruit will be less difficult at snacktime or other meals, she reasons.

One of her favorite breakfasts is crunchy peanut butter spread on a hot, toasted raisin bagel, then sprinkled with shredded carrots and raisins. ``The peanut butter sort of melts, so the carrots stay on,'' she says. ``It's delicious.''

She also suggests a fruit mini-pizza: Spread a toasted English muffin with plain or flavored cream cheese, then top with slices of fruit and berries. On the savory side are an omelet filled with chopped vegetables or a toasted cheese- and-tomato sandwich.

Here are some other breakfast ideas and recipes from the cancer institute:

* Hot whole grain cereal topped with raisins, blueberries or chopped dates. To make a child-friendly bowl of oatmeal, top with a smiling face of sliced bananas for eyes, raisins for the nose and an orange segment for the mouth.

* A bowl of low-fat yogurt with cut-up fruit such as peaches or pears.

* Fruit salad and a toasted whole grain English muffin.

* Toasted waffles topped with applesauce or crushed pineapple.

STRAWBERRY YOGURT SHAKE

1/2 cup unsweetened pineapple juice

3/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt

1 1/2 cups frozen, unsweetened strawberries

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

* Add ingredients, in order listed, to a blender container. Puree at medium speed until thick and smooth. Makes 2 1 1/2-cup servings.